Windlass



F. C. GOOD March 3, 1959 WINDLASS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1o, ;957

FredCood F. C. GOOD March 3, 1959 WINDLASS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June l0, 1957 LWN www.

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WINDLASS Good, gcheltenham,.Pa.,.aqssignor to..Fred C. ,"jGood.&` Sons,"Inc;,Philadelphia, Pa., acorporationof .-,Thisarinvention relates.`y to power drivenwindlassea and :more particularly to? apparatus of; thisl 'type'fwhieh is'l lde- .signed primarilyfori-anchor line and/or chain" retrieving vonz'iboats' 1in the so-called pleasure craft range" oflsizes.

`vlvIost windlassesfor nautical -use require constant yattention during the-operation" thereof, `and lthus require that a .person :be on thedeck of a boat Where--the'windlass is located. V"Again, most windlasses -are `rather-bulky pieces-of apparatus, and 'for these and lother reasons, have 'notl enjoyed widespre-ad adoption infpleasure Acraft .-circles.

It is,therefore,'-the principal object of thegpresent inoperated Yentirely from, the cockpitof Vthe boat without the necessityof goingoutjon deck.

It is a funthernbjectcoftthe presenti-invention to provide a windlass which will handle -acreasonably fwide .rangel of. line sizes and which isealsoauseful inhandling =chain.

@Other objects of the present invention will heapparent from a consideration of the following detailed specification, read in conjunction with the attached sheets of drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation with most parts shown in section of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows in side elevation the upper roll supporting plate; and,

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of one of the rollers over which the drive chains are entrained.

In general, the objects `of the present invention are achieved by providing within a compact housing, suitable for 'attachment to the deck of a small boat, a pair of opposed, positively driven chains which contact opposite sides of an anchor line. It should be emphasized that there is nothing special about the structure of these chains. They are ordinary sprocket chains, such, fOr example, as the ones found on a conventional bicycle, but may be of corrosion resistant material. The feature which enables suicient tractive force to be applied to the line to effect retrieving against the normal Weight and pull of an anchor is the fact that each of these chains entrains around a separate set of roller members and the rollers for each chain are staggered with respect to each other. This arrangement causes the line Iand the chains to follow a su-bstantially sinusoidal path in traveling from one end of the `apparatus to the other. Also, the chains may be ladjustably biased toward each other.

Referring first to Fig. l of the attached drawings, showing a preferred embodiment of this invention, there is provided a compact housing for the various working parts of the windlass. One end of the housing preferably includes a mooring bit 11. As shown in Fig. l, the right hand side of this figure would normally be the 2,875,890 i.;:BatentedffMar.f3

fr' i 1C@ -2bow1en'd, and'- the left'han'df' side-would-be the'stern'4 end.

:Ati thei forward :or bow end fof `the housingthe're providedan'openinginto whichl is-iuserted ka hollow; member 12 serving=as aI hause pipe,`r arid' Iforming an entry portfor the anchor line. "At 'the rear-"of'the'housing lan'dfatfthe #underside thereof, -a similar-arrangement is provided to `define an exit port'fl-S-'for the line.- ln,` a conventional installation, the exit port would be'r aligned with anjopen- Still' referring Ato Fig. il, there ifs thereinlshown ai pair of endless chains' 1"41``and`1"5 whicheentr'ain aroundis'eparate sets 'of zguide'rollers 1z`6', 17, A18-"an'dl'19. In addition to the guide rollers, eachf'chain is alsogpos'itively driven -by means 'of -sprockets :20 andi 2,1, 'the" drive connections for Y which :will `'be vdescribed hereinafter. l O f'jpa'rticular in nportance l'in this `view, j' isfthe staggered relationship ybetween ,theupp'er andl'ower' ysets :of (guide rollers. It is apparentifrom1a*consideration"of Fig. l; that this staggered relationship ybetween"--the rollers Lis suchas to ,causefthe line rt-o follow apsubstantially'sinusoidal path' in `itsgtravel lfrom one endofithewindla'ssto the other.

'members' to a' hub. fRegardlessv of lthernethodof manufacture, however, Ythe important consideration isI that [the roller should preferably' receive 'within Iits innerv boundarles, not only the'chain itself,'.but. also at least avportion of the line,whichisbeingjdriven by the chains. p

The materiai'from whichl the vrollers` are formedis.sub ject to considerable variation. fln, so,mecases -ithas` been found advantageous to form these. rollers ofrubber,.lor other` equivalent resilient material@to,Y provideV ,a certain amount of give to the sides. When thus formed,` the windlass is more adaptable to varying line sizes and performs better when the anchor line is chain or cable.

Referring again to Fig. l, it will be seen that the upper pair of guide rollers 16 and 17 are supported on shaftsv 22 and 23 which extend through opposite sides of a cagelike member 24. The cage is shown in more detail in Figs. 4 and 5. The cage in turn is supported within the main housing 10 by a pair of pins 25 which extend inwardly from opposite sides of the housing to be received within opposed slotted openings 26 on opposite sides of the cage member. These openings are shown in Figs. l and 4. The cage 24 and its pair of guide rolls 16 and'17 are therefore capable of substantial movement within the housing, the limits of which movement are defined by the dimensions of the opposed openings 26 and the pin members 25 which are received therein.

Referring again to Fig. 1, there is shown a means for biasing the cage 24 and its set of rollers toward the lower set of rollers 18 and 19. While this biasing means could take any one of a number of different forms, a preferred embodiment shown in this gure comprises a knurled head adjusting screw 27, threaded into an opening in the upper part of the main housing, and a helical spring 28 positioned between the upper surface of the cage 24 and the inner end of the adjusting screw. By this means, dierent sizes of line may -be accommodated and the tension placed on the line is adjustable within reasonable limits. The lower set of rollers 18 and l19 are supported for rotation within the housing and preferably entirely independently of one another. Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the roller 18 is supported on a shaft which extends through opposed walls of housing 10. The roller 19, however, is supported in a small adjustable cage member 29. This cage rests upon the lower wall of the fymain housing and has upstanding arms 30 through which the axle 32 `for the roller 19 extends. At the opposite end of the cage, an opening is provided through -which extends a bolt member 33. An opening is also provided in the Amain housing, through which the bolt 33 also extends .to receive a knurled nut 34 on the outside of the umain housing. The inner end of the bolt includes a head portion 35, and a spring 36 is positioned between this head 'and the inner surface of the cage. It vwill bey obvious that adjustment of the knurled nut serves to ret siliently bias the cage in a direction to vary the tension on the lower chain 14.

AFor a description vof a preferred embodiment of a Y drive mechanism for the two chains, reference will be made to Figs. 1, 2 and3. In Fig. l, there is shown a main'power shaft37 which extends from a point preferably below the deck of the boat through and into the rnaiu housing 10 for the windlass..

` Fig. 2 is a viewtaken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and shows the upper end of the drive shaft 37`carrying thereon a worm .38 whichmeshes with a Worm wheel 39 'shown in Figs- 2 and 3. The worm wheel is rigidly attached to a shaft 40 extending transversely of the housing and whichY also carries rigidly attached thereto, the sprocket 20 furnishes the drive for the lower chain. Also rigidly attached to the shaft 40 is a pinion 41. Pinion 41 meshes with another pinion 42 having the same numberof teeth thereon, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. The upper pinion 42 is carried bya'secondv shaft 43 extending transversely of the main housing, and which also carries the other sprocket 21 which furnishes the drive for the upper chain.

It'is believed that the operation of the apparatus herein described will be fairly apparent from the foregoing description. To place the apparatus in operation, it is only necessary to install it preferably on the forward deck of a boat and to thread an anchor line through the inlet port, between the opposed chains, over the guide i rollers, and out the outlet port, so that the free end will fall into the line or chain locker. Preferably, the power for operating the windlass is supplied from an electric motor mounted below the deck, the shaft of which is r4v connected 4to shaft 37. The only control necessary, therefore, .is a reversing switch controlling .the direction of rotation of the motorand which may `be located at any convenient point in the cockpit of the boat.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been herein shown and described, applicant claims the Abenefit of a full range of equivalents within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A windlass for mounting on the forward deck lof pleasure craft comprising: a housing; means defining a line entry port at the forward end of saidvhousing;.means dening a line exit port on the under side of the rear of said housing; a r'st pairof guide rollers; acagerotatably supporting said rollers .in xed spaced relation; means mounting said cage Within said housing for limited pivotal and vertical movement therein; a third guide roller supported on an axle extending between opposite sides of saidhousing, said third roller being positioned horizontally below said i'irst pair of guide rollers; a second cage member; a fourth guide roller rotatably carried by said second cage member, said fourth roller being positioned in staggered horizontal relationship with said first three rollers; means for adjusting the horizontal position of said second cage member; a first sprocket chain entrained around said rst pair'of guide rollers; a second chain entrained around said third and fourth guide rollers; a pair of sprocket wheels, one for driving each of said chains, said sprocket wheels also being yreceived within said housing; means for positively driving said sprocket wheels; the chain engaging surfaces of each of said guide rollers being grooved to a depth substantially greater than the thickness of said chains.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,939,796 Spowart Dec. 19, 1933 2,251,291 Reichelt Aug. 5, 1941 2,690,628 Courtney Oct. 5, 1954 2,709,000 Frank May 24, 1955 

